Lincoln City welcome Burton Albion to the LNER Stadium as the Imps look to continue strong run of form and pursue their rise up the table

Lincoln City take on Burton Albion at the LNER Stadium on Saturday looking to cap off an excellent run of form in the month of January.

The Imps have struggled to reach the standards set last season, however, they have produced some superb results in recent weeks to ease fears of relegation.

Looking more like themselves from the last campaign, they have chalked up some impressive victories over Oxford United, Sunderland and Plymouth Argyle last weekend.

What has changed all of a sudden?

For a side that was desperately struggling for goals going into the festive period, leaving them highly vulnerable to defeat when conceding first, some shrewd early business in the January transfer window has injected hope that Lincoln’s season can be salvaged.

Following the termination of Dan N’Lundulu’s loan from Southampton, Michael Appleton has brought in Morgan Whittaker and Liam Cullen from Championship side Swansea City.

Whittaker’s arrival instantly breathed life into Lincoln’s fluidity upfront with a Man of the Match performance against Oxford and he played his part in Chris Maguire’s stupendous evening in Sunderland a few days later, recording a famous 3-1 win.

John Marquis has been allowed to go out on loan by former Imps boss Danny Cowley and the former Doncaster Rovers man comes with a strong reputation that he will score goals in the division. The forward enhanced that even further by opening his account on his debut away at Plymouth.

That calibre of player has been further complemented this week by the permanent arrivals of Eastleigh’s up and coming striker Ben House and Charlie Kendall from Eastbourne Borough.

House, a Reading academy graduate who has been capped at Scotland under-21 level, is a player that Appleton has been keeping an eye on and is delighted to have finally signed his man.

“Ben [House] is a player we have been monitoring for some time and so I am delighted we’ve managed to sort a long-term deal to bring him to the club.

“We’ve clearly strengthened a lot in the forward areas already this window, but what I like about him is he’s young, he still has a lot to learn, and he will be our player beyond this season.

“House is not yet the finished article but he has excellent attributes which we can develop and he can play in more than one position, so he will add great depth and more options to the squad for the rest of this season.”

Kendall, who has scored 11 goals in 17 outings this season, is another long-term project that the Imps manager will have the chance to nurture on the training field alongside 18-year-old Freddie Draper, already at the club.

Lincoln’s Director of Football, Jez George, was pleased that Kendall is another striker that fits the recruitment strategy of the club.

“Charlie [Kendall] is just the type of talented young player that we want to sign and develop. We are really pleased to have been able to secure his long-term future with Lincoln City in this transfer window.

“He has impressed us with his character, mentality, technical and physical attributes, work ethic and ability to score all types of goals. He has huge potential and we are sure that we can help him to develop in our environment.”

Going into the game against Burton, Appleton will also be able to rely on Arsenal loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy. With Regan Poole now being deployed at centre back due to a dismal run of injuries to Lewis Montsma, Adam Jackson and Joe Walsh, the 18-year-old will offer the Imps a natural option at full-back with both Teddy Bishop and TJ Eyoma filling in this season.

Appleton has not ruled out further arrivals and insisted that his phone will remain on until Monday’s deadline. The Imps boss would consider bringing in younger players to provide them with first-team experience.

“Every now and again, there are young players out there who are desperate to be involved in a first-team environment.

“If that gives us an extra number without any serious pressure of us having to play them, we’ll be up for that type of thing.”

Brewers’ boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will be looking for a response from his players following defeat to MK Dons in midweek to get their play-off aspirations back on track. Previous to that, Burton had been unbeaten in four games stemming back to December 11th.

“They [Lincoln] have always been a very good side, and a side that have always had certain types of players that play unlike other League One sides play.”

“It is going to be a good test for us, and we want to see a good response after Tuesday night.

“They have brought in a few players such as [Morgan] Whittaker, [Liam] Cullen and [John] Marquis which will help them and that has given them a lift. They are a very good side, but so are we on our day.”

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